Top Chef Winner Tristen Epps Makes Red Rice Porridge | Video

By: Maggie Ward

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Tristen Epps is a Houston-based chef and winner of Bravo’s Top Chef Season 22 whose work centers on Afro-Caribbean cuisine, shaped by a globally influenced upbringing and a career spent moving between some of the country’s most dynamic kitchens. Born into a Trinidadian family and raised in a military household, Epps spent his childhood living in places like Guam, Japan, and the Philippines, an experience that sharpened his palate early and continues to inform his cooking today. Trained at Johnson & Wales and mentored by chefs like Marcus Samuelsson, he went on to lead acclaimed restaurants, earn MICHELIN recognition, and build a reputation for translating diasporic foodways into a contemporary fine-dining context.

In this video, Epps brings that perspective to a Charleston classic, reworking red rice into a savory porridge that reflects both place and personal history. He starts with Carolina Gold rice, pre-cooked to emphasize its nutty aroma, and combines it with frica, a chewy grain that adds texture and dimension. The technique is straightforward but intentional: butter in a hot pan, followed by garlic, thyme, red onion, and fresno chile to build a layered base.

From there, the dish moves outward geographically. Dried shrimp introduces a concentrated umami note, while smoked paprika and curry powder—an unmistakable nod to Caribbean flavor—add depth and warmth. Epps highlights the importance of blooming spices in fat, allowing them to fully develop before adding tomato paste for richness and seafood stock fortified with clam and mussel liquor.

As the liquid simmers, the rice is added back in, thickening the mixture into a porridge that sits somewhere between traditional red rice and risotto. The texture is flexible, adjusted to preference, but always anchored by the starch of the grain. Clams, mussels, and crab are folded in, reinforcing the Lowcountry influence while elevating the dish’s overall richness. A final addition of butter smooths everything out, giving the porridge a cohesive, glossy finish.

For plating, Epps keeps it simple but intentional. The porridge forms the base, topped with shellfish and finished with fresh peppers, tomatoes, and herbs for contrast. He calls it “poor rich” as a way of reframing a humble dish through technique, ingredients, and context. What emerges is not a reinvention so much as a continuation: a version of red rice that reflects Charleston’s roots while tracing the broader currents of the African diaspora that have always shaped it.